Harvest Festival 2014 to be held in Viera

The town of Viera, a master-planned community, is a fairly new addition to the Space Coast landscape. On August 4, 1989, ground was broken for the new community of Viera. Since then The Avenue Viera, an open-air shopping center, the Brevard Zoo, and a new local government center have been added. The Brevard County Board of Education offices, Space Coast Stadium, and Viera Hospital helped pull jobs to the area and soon there was a housing boom. What really sets Viera apart, however, is the never-ending variety of activities that are offered and residents never have to leave the neighborhood.

Scarecrow Stroll

Modeled after the hugely successful Festival of Trees, the community of Viera invites everyone to design and create their own scarecrow and dedicate it to the charity of their choice. Then Oct. 1-15 the scarecrows will be on display in various locations within the community. A map/ballot will be provided to all those interested in strolling around to view the scarecrows. At the end of the stroll, ballots and donations will be collected. The scarecrow with the most votes from the collected ballots will win a trophy. Any donations collected for a particular scarecrow will go to that charity, even if the scarecrow hasn’t placed in the voting.

Harvest Festival

On Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014, from 1 to 5 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Melbourne-Viera Conference Center and the new Viera Beach, the Top 10 Scarecrows will be on display at the Harvest Festival. The top 10 business scarecrows will be put up for silent auction, where all proceeds will benefit the charity chosen by the scarecrow builder.

Live music, the Zucchini 500, face painting, a bounce house, and games galore will be available. There will also be an “Anything Pumpkin” cooking contest, and lots of goodies from local artists and vendors.

Individuals, businesses and civic organizations will make scarecrows to benefit a charity of their choice. Schools are also encouraged to participate by creating schoolcrows to benefit their school. Everyone must register to build a crow and be on the stroll map and ballot for voting.